Super Awesome Magic Power Rings In Literature

[The Comedian]

I'm interested in literature that has magic power rings. I can only come up with a few examples, perhaps there's more. Here's what I have so far. Any additional suggestions would be super awesome!

1). Lord of the Rings (obvious)

2). Republic (Ring of Gyges)

3). Green Lantern comics (Green Power Ring & others)

4). ??

[mayneverhave]

Der Ring des Nibelungen

[Drkshadow03]

You forget the most important work of all! Captain Planet! Captain Planet, he's our hero! Going to take pollution down to zero! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRlp1wgQWw) (P. S. for those strong enough to click on the link make sure you wait for the ending when they insult you by calling you a male genital!)

You wanted literature, by which I assume you mean written works? You might want to look up "Magic Ring" in wikipedia, it has a list of titles.

[Mathor]

In C.S. Lewis' first Narnia book there are two magical rings to shift between worlds.

[AimusSage]

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué wrote a trilogy in the early 19th century, check the links below for some info

http://www.valancourtbooks.com/themagicring.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_de_la_Motte_Fouqu%C3%A9

[mayneverhave]

You forget the most important work of all! Captain Planet! Captain Planet, he's our hero! Going to take pollution down to zero! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRlp1wgQWw) (P. S. for those strong enough to click on the link make sure you wait for the ending when they insult you by calling you a male genital!)

You wanted literature, by which I assume you mean written works? You might want to look up "Magic Ring" in wikipedia, it has a list of titles.

I'm no "deek"!

[bluosean]

Tolkin got his idea from an anglo-saxon story. I cant remember which one. Try looking up the plot for The Vulslung (sp?) Saga (The Saga of the Vulslungs).

[higley]

Ooh Mathor got mine. You'd think Harry Potter would have used this story device at one point but I don't recall.

[Paulclem]

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever by Stephen R Donaldson.

They are a kind of reaction to The Lord of the Rings, as the ringbearer is quite a cynical anti-hero - hence the unbeliever title. The fantasy element is still very strong with tremendous stories if you can put up with Thomas Covenant himself. I also didn't like Donaldson's psycological assumptions about the characters, but again the stories are great fun and come at heroes and power from a different angle.

[curlyqlink]

Tolkin got his idea from an anglo-saxon story. I cant remember which one. Try looking up the plot for The Vulslung (sp?) Saga (The Saga of the Vulslungs).

It's a Norse saga, the Saga of the Volsungs, first committed to writing in 13th century Iceland. The ring is part of a ransom, it is called Andvaranaut, and it is prophesied that it "would be the death of whoever owned it". It's a fine tale of avarice, a raw, primal tale filled with primitive beauty. Later pale imitations utterly fail to do it justice.

[WiseCookie]

It's a Norse saga, the Saga of the Volsungs, first committed to writing in 13th century Iceland. The ring is part of a ransom, it is called Andvaranaut, and it is prophesied that it "would be the death of whoever owned it". It's a fine tale of avarice, a raw, primal tale filled with primitive beauty. Later pale imitations utterly fail to do it justice.

Yeah, a trilogy read and loved by millions around the world failed to do justice to an obscure work that nobody's ever heard of. Gotcha.

[Niamh]

You forget the most important work of all! Captain Planet! Captain Planet, he's our hero! Going to take pollution down to zero! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjRlp1wgQWw) (P. S. for those strong enough to click on the link make sure you wait for the ending when they insult you by calling you a male genital!)

You wanted literature, by which I assume you mean written works? You might want to look up "Magic Ring" in wikipedia, it has a list of titles.
that came to my mind too... :P


In C.S. Lewis' first Narnia book there are two magical rings to shift between worlds.
The two rings are made from the tree that also makes the wardrobe right? or am i getting muddled up?


Ooh Mathor got mine. You'd think Harry Potter would have used this story device at one point but I don't recall.
One of Voldemorts horcruxes is a ring...

[higley]

that came to my mind too... :P


The two rings are made from the tree that also makes the wardrobe right? or am i getting muddled up?


One of Voldemorts horcruxes is a ring...

I looked up the Narnia rings and Wiki says that they were created from Uncle Andrew from a powder substance in a box left to him by a part-fairy godmother, and speculates that the powder could have come from the wood between the worlds. For some reason I don't remember reading all that in the book. :P

Oh you're right about the horcrux, I'd forgotten it.

[Akeldama]

Draupnir, the magical ring of Odin that produces eight identical copies of itself every ninth morning:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draupnir


Yeah, a trilogy read and loved by millions around the world failed to do justice to an obscure work that nobody's ever heard of. Gotcha.

Being a professor of Anglo Saxon and taking much influence from the story in question, I'd bet that Tolkien himself would agree with curlyqlink's assessment. Of course, not that it should matter to anyone buy curly that he prefers one story to the other. Psst, by the way, I've heard of the Saga of the Volsung's as well. That makes, like, three of us. Do I get a cookie?

[WiseCookie]

Being a professor of Anglo Saxon and taking much influence from the story in question, I'd bet that Tolkien himself would agree with curlyqlink's assessment. Of course, not that it should matter to anyone buy curly that he prefers one story to the other. Psst, by the way, I've heard of the Saga of the Volsung's as well. That makes, like, three of us. Do I get a cookie?

It doesn't matter to me whether he/she likes the Saga of Volsungs better than the Lord of the Rings. I was just responding to the statement that later "pale imitations fail to do it justice." Maybe I was wrong, but it seemed to me that this was an obvious dig at the Lord of the Rings, which seems rather silly to me considering the success (both critical and popular) that the Lord of the Rings has had over the last 50 years or so, and especially in the last decade. Just my opinion.

[FalseReality]

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Letham. There's a ring that makes you fly.

[susan_p]

There was a movie based on The Nibelungenlied or Der Ring des Nibelungen - it was terrible, quite low-budget, yet hilarious at the same time. Has anyone seen it, and if so do you remember the name? It's on the tip of my tongue right now!

[Akeldama]

It doesn't matter to me whether he/she likes the Saga of Volsungs better than the Lord of the Rings. I was just responding to the statement that later "pale imitations fail to do it justice." Maybe I was wrong, but it seemed to me that this was an obvious dig at the Lord of the Rings, which seems rather silly to me considering the success (both critical and popular) that the Lord of the Rings has had over the last 50 years or so, and especially in the last decade. Just my opinion.

Of course. Ironically, I really shouldn't have cared that you said anything either. I'm a fan of Lord of the Rings myself, but what bothered me with your post is the assertion that popularity = quality. Twinkies are a widely popular "food", but that doesn't mean that they're a quality product. Transformers 2 has sold more tickets than any other movie this year, but that doesn't mean that it's the finest piece of cinema to come along in 2009. And so on and so forth.

Perhaps I'm just being nitpicky, and you don't seem like the sort who would hide behind such a strawman argument to defend lesser art. I can certainly see where you're coming from. There are plenty of other people who actually use the popularity argument in support of things such as Transformers, maybe I should be spending my time on them.

Actually, now that I think of it, that would be the dumbest thing I could do with my time. :brickwall <--anyone?

[crystalmoonshin]

You forget the most important work of all! Captain Planet!

Go, Captain Planet! One of my fave cartoons back when I was a kid. :)

King Solomon's magic ring given to him by an angel so he can control demons.

In Norse mythology, Odin has a ring given to him by the dwarves. It has the ability to make the wearer make copies of himself.

I'm sure there are lots more about these magic rings in the Arthurian legends.

[Gustavo L.]

I'm sure there are lots more about these magic rings in the Arthurian legends.

The invisibility ring in Chrétien de Troyes' Yvain, for instance. =)

There are some magical rings in Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, but since I haven't finished it yet I can't say how many.

(Fond memories of Captain Planet too! Though I always thought that the Brazilian guy's ring sucked... =/)

[*Classic*Charm*]

Edit: Someone already said what I was going to :D

[sophista]

Hey, if you are still interested in magic rings, my B.A. thesis will definitely be of interest to you. I provide examples of magical rings and their powers in English Literature from the Anglo-Saxon times until Tolkien.
The thesis is entitled "Magical Rings in English Literature: From Anglo-Saxon Charms to Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'"